Interchangeable contact/non-contact dispensing system

Abstract

An interchangeable adhesive dispensing system adaptable for use in contact or non-contact adhesive dispensing includes a gun body, an adapter and a clamp which threadably connects to the gun body by bolts to compressively hold therebetween either a nozzle plate used for non-contact dispensing or a doctor blade assembly used for contact dispensing. To changeover from one type of dispensing to the other, the clamp is loosened so that the nozzle plate or doctor blade assembly may be removed from between the adapter and the clamp, a new nozzle plate or doctor blade assembly is located between the adapter and the clamp, and the clamp is tightened to the gun body.

I claim: 
     
       1. An adhesive dispensing system comprising: a gun body having at least one internal fluid conduit;   an adapter mounted below the body, the adapter including at least one internal fluid passage in fluid communication with the conduit, the at least one passage terminating in a channel;   a clamp removably securable to the gun body and having a clamping portion which resides a pre-determined distance from the adapter when the clamp is secured to the gun body, said pre-determined distance being sufficiently great to accommodate non-contact dispensing means; and   dispensing means having a thickness equal to said pre-determined distance so as to be compressively held in a dispensing position defined by the pre-determined distance between the clamping portion and the adapter when the clamp is secured to the gun body, the dispensing means including a plurality of fluid passageways aligned with the channel when the dispensing means is located in the dispensing position, the dispensing means adapted to receive adhesive from the channel and to convey the adhesive outwardly from the system, via the passageways, and onto a surface, the dispensing means further including a nozzle plate for operation in a non-contact mode of dispensing said adhesive and a spreader assembly for operation in a contact mode of dispensing said adhesive, the nozzle plate and the spreader assembly being interchangeably positionable in the dispensing position by securing and unsecuring, respectively, the clamp to the gun body, the dispensing means thereby adapted to dispense in one of the following modes, contact and non-contact, and to facilitate changeover of the system to dispense in the other of the modes.   
     
     
       2. The dispensing system of claim 1 and further comprising: means for threadably securing the clamp to the gun body.   
     
     
       3. The dispensing system of claim 1 wherein said clamping portion includes means for urging the dispensing means in an upward direction when the clamp is secured to the gun. 
     
     
       4. The dispensing system of claims 3 wherein the urging means comprises a rounded surface located at a bottom end of the clamping portion.